John Ashton – Fracking is a futile betrayal of our national interest. Our energy investment problem is a real one. In the debate about how to solve it, shale gas is a red herring. There will still be a role for gas for a while, but it will largely be conventional gas, and there is more than enough of it. Some will still come from the North Sea, despite spin to the contrary from the shale industry. But there is a national interest at stake that is more fundamental still than any consideration of energy, climate, land or health. If we lose confidence in our democracy, we lose the ability to make wise choices about any of our national interests, and to rally the country around whatever we need to do to secure them. In a real sense we would lose our very sanity as a nation.
Guardian 24th May 2016 read more »
The G7 group of countries has set a deadline for the phasing out of subsidies for fossil fuels by 2025 – the first time it has actually set a date. In an announcement in Tokyo, the group, which includes the UK, US, Japan, France and Germany, said it was committed to “swift and successful implementation” of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which was seen as a breakthrough. However, commentators pointed out that the target was not binding and the “warm words” needed to be backed up by steps to stop using fossil fuels.
Independent 27th May 2016 read more »